Last Tuesday night of CMW I headed to the Toronto’s Women in Music showcase. I haven’t been doing a lot of hopping around this year at the festival and mostly picked one venue where I stayed the entire night. I knew this one was jam packed full of strong female-fronted acts so it was an obvious choice. I was amazed to see four very different acts on stage.

Megan Bonnell began the night solo, accompanying herself with either a guitar or piano. She performed fan favourites like “We Are Strangers Now” and “Say My Name” from her 2013 album Hunt and Chase.

Next up was the WAYO (which I had previously not heard of). I had no idea what to expect and was delighted by their mixture of jazz and funk. Lead singer Charlotte Day Wilson dazzled on vocals, keyboards and a smooth saxophone.

Hot off the release of their EP Like the Sun, Programm took the stage with their dark cloudy electronics. They kind of make me think of Suuns (except with some female vocals) especially the way they played with tension and release.

I closed off my night with the epic Dirty Frigs and their brand of heavy psych-rock. Singer Bri Salmena walked on stage in a pretty outfit, but she soon showed the audience that she was more than a pretty face, captivating with charisma and snarling vocals all at once. She even dove into the audience near the end like a true punk rocker.

“Female” should never be considered a genre but this lineup of bands showed that those festivals with few women acts don’t know what they are missing.

About The Author

Tiana is the owner, editor and concert photographer of Ride the Tempo. She works new media in the music industry during the day and also serves on the FACTOR, Polaris Prize and Prism Prize jury. Visit her personal blog at tianafeng.com.
Twitter: @tianafeng